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9/11The Fastest Bicycle Rider In the World: An Autobiography of Marshall W. "Major" Taylor
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- Publication date
- 1928
- Usage
- Public Domain Mark 1.0
- Topics
- black history, bicycle history, black cyclists, black athlete, jim crow, racism in sports, african american, cyclist, velodrome, fixed gear bike, track bike
- Collection
- opensource
- Language
- English
- Item Size
- 408.9M
American bicycle racer Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (1878-1932)
was the first black sports superstar: world cycling champion in 1899,
American sprint champion in 1900, and numerous track cycling records.
Nicknamed “Major” in his youth in Indianapolis and later known as “the Worcester Whirlwind” after his adopted hometown in Massachusetts, he was the second African-American world champion in any sport (after Canadian-born bantamweight boxer George Dixon of Boston won his title in 1891).
In the Jim Crow era of strict racial segregation, Taylor had to fight prejudice just to get on the starting line. He faced closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity. In his retirement, he wrote his autobiography, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.
Nicknamed “Major” in his youth in Indianapolis and later known as “the Worcester Whirlwind” after his adopted hometown in Massachusetts, he was the second African-American world champion in any sport (after Canadian-born bantamweight boxer George Dixon of Boston won his title in 1891).
In the Jim Crow era of strict racial segregation, Taylor had to fight prejudice just to get on the starting line. He faced closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity. In his retirement, he wrote his autobiography, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.
